I just heard the very sad news about the death of my dear friend Charlie. The tears in my eyes make it difficult for me to even see what I'm now writing.

There are no words to describe the sorrow and sadness in me; a sense of such great loss, and of the loss of such a human and humble person, a true gentleman, a true lover of humanity and of course, of music.

Charlie first hugged me as a person and a musician quite a few years ago. I will never forget that first time we met at the BBC studios when I was a guest on his radio programme. He greeted me with such a warm and loving hug, and I looked forward to that hug in the years since.

I always envied Charlie for his boundless love of music; for the way he listened to it; and for how he used to close his eyes and simply welcome it into his soul.

To now be separated from Charlie symbolizes for me the end of an era; an era in which music blossomed and which it now seems will never be the same again without him.

I, like so many, owe him a debt of gratitude for helping launch my career.

And sadly, I know that from today onwards, when music will be played, it will never sound quite like it used to, when Charlie brought it into our lives.

Before all, Charlie has made us realize that we live in one single world connected by a single universal language: that of his music. We will miss him every Saturday. For me he will for ever remain associated with the song Atelesi from "Night of the Gypsies"

interesting to see everyone on here after the loss of the leader. Not that I got to know him too well at all, or even ever met him in person, but we did speak on the phone and exchange some letters. Anyway, all of this just reminds me that Charlie must have been a first-rate manager of his interpersonal relationships with everyone he encountered. Is there anyone out there who has an unkind word to say about him? It seems like there is not. What a legacy.

Another first for Charlie, which I don`t think anyone has mentioned yet, was that he was the first BBC DJ to play the first Sex Pistols single. The record was banned by the BBC at the time but Charlie played it on a Sunday Morning Honky Tonk the week it was released. My memory, a little vague I admit, is that at least one of the dailies (possibly the Daily Mail) expressed outrage that the ban had been breached. Charlies defence, if I`m not suffering from False Memory Syndrome, was that nobody had told him it was banned.

I was often struck by Charlie`s humility in the face of difficult guests. I remember an interview with a particularly awkward George Thorogood. As a listener I felt Thorogood was rude to the point of deserving a clip around the ear. Instead Charlie went to an Ad break-came back after the break-announced that apparently he had been putting the wrong kind of questions to his guest and would try to do better. Of course there had been nothing at all wrong with his questions...Thorogood just seemed to have gotten out of the wrong side of bed......

"I am extremely sad to hear about Charlie Gillett's death. He has been such a benign Godfather to so many artists who have fallen under the name of world music, as their first home on the radio, their record label and most of all, their champion.

Bumping into Charlie was always one of my regular delights at WOMAD. There are many artists around the world who owe a good slice of their income to Charlie's enthusiasms. His generous and good nature, fired by his passion, was a beacon of light in the music world and a rare and wonderful example to all of us involved". (Peter Gabriel)

[quote="Jaybird"]I was often struck by Charlie`s humility in the face of difficult guests. I remember an interview with a particularly awkward George Thorogood. As a listener I felt Thorogood was rude to the point of deserving a clip around the ear. Instead Charlie went to an Ad break-came back after the break-announced that apparently he had been putting the wrong kind of questions to his guest and would try to do better. Of course there had been nothing at all wrong with his questions...Thorogood just seemed to have gotten out of the wrong side of bed......[/quote]

I remember one interview with Thorogood. When Charlie turned to speak to Lonesome George, he was asleep! It turned out the poor guy had serious jet-lag. Maybe that was the same interview - I honestly can't remember.

Legendary broadcaster and all-round good guy Charlie Gillett passed away last month. Here are some tributes from some of those who had the pleasure of working with him.

Paul Conroy

I first came into contact with Charlie in1973 with his then partner in Oval Music, the dentist Gordon Nelki, when I was approached about taking on Kilburn and the High Roads (who they managed) as an agent. Myself and Nigel Kerr, who were running Charisma Artistes at the time, worked with him on building them up as a live act in the world of Pub Rock. I also had many dealings with him as a lot of the artistes that I worked with - the Kursaal Flyers, Graham Parker, Elvis Costello – all played on his ground breaking Radio London show. On Sunday lunchtimes he helped launch many new artistes and also interviewed a wide range of visiting US acts who had no other opportunities radio wise in the UK. We also worked together when we had hits with Lene Lovich (who was an Oval Music artiste) at Stiff when I was the General Manager. Many a musician owes their first radio break to Charlie – Dire Straits, Q Tips, Graham Parker, Elvis Costello, Ace to name but a few. Charlie was a wonderful writer and an informative broadcaster with a very natural style. Over the years his musical tastes changed to World Music – he was one of the first broadcasters to take up the mantle for musicians all around the Globe. Our friendship always remained strong and he was always very supportive to me in my career in the music industry. Charlie was passionate about music and will be sadly missed by all those whose pleasure it was to spend time with him – he was a broadcasting pioneer whose name belongs in the same breath as John Peel and Roger Scott.

Ed BicknellMany people are credited with discovering Dire Straits including myself, but the person who really deserves the credit is Charlie Gillett. Back in 1976 Mark Knopfler and John Illsley delivered their first demo tape, which included Sultans of Swing and Down to the Waterline to Charlie’s front door. Famously Charlie played Sultans on his Honky Tonk radio show that Sunday. Among the people listening was A and R man John Stainze who quickly signed the band to Phonogram and had the good sense to call me about management. Over the years Charlie was a consistent supporter and great friend. As recently as last year, he and I had several conversations about the passing of Jerry Wexler who was one of the founders of Atlantic records, and produced the band’s second albumCommunique. We also discussed an autobiography he was planning. Charlie was the consummate music man –a total fan and a mine of information – a real inspiration to any music lover. I know that the members of Dire Straits, particularly Mark and John, join with me in sending our condolences to his wife, children and grandchildren. He will be sorely missed.

Mark LamarrI first met Charlie sometime in the mid 90s when he rejoined GLR on Saturday evenings and I was doing the Sunday morning show. I'd long been a hardened devotee of Sound Of The City and was startled that, not only was I on any name terms with the author, but that he chose to treat me as an equal, which I clearly wasn't. We very quickly became a mutual appreciation society with occasional guesting on each others shows. I suspect him because he was so delighted that anyone would bother to play the Louvin Bros or Rosco Gordon in such a mainstream (for GLR) slot, I suspect me because I'd become introduced to so many of those names by him in the first place. In fact, only a few months ago I related to him a lengthy piece of musical arcania to which he magnanimously listened intently, smiling and nodding. At the conclusion Said 'actually I think I read that in one of your books', to which he said 'yes, you probably did.' We didn't always keep in touch as the years went on, with not too much more than the occasional bumping into at the sort of events that wouldn't have been complete without his presence, but became pretty close over the last five years by which point he'd become delightfully and adorably crotchety. Whoever posted earlier that he never had a bad word to say about someone has obviously never sat with him when a Pet Shop Boys record came on. I have far too many fond memories of Charlie to share, at the moment it feels like all of them, but also not nearly enough. Every "definitive" Charlie record was unique, not only to the individual, but also stylistically, geographically and chronologically. Few broadcasters will ever have that panoramic diversity as their legacy. You just knew that if Charlie recommended even a heavy metal track to you, it would be worth a listen. You also trusted him enough that you just knew he wouldn't recommend a heavy metal track to you. He was still my greatest champion and hero to the end, but it was no longer just as a great DJ or great writer, it was as one of those all-round superb humans that it turns out you only get to know once or twice a lifetime. No-one’s perfect but some get so close that it would be nit picking to use any other description.

Paul GambacciniHe was one of "us", each of us fervently committed to music in our own idiosyncratic extremely developed way. He inspired me, motivated me, and introduced me to some of my favourite artists. From listening to him on Radio London as I was driving to Regent's Park for Sunday softball to hearing him present great African artists, Charlie Gillett was someone I expected would always be on my radio. Now he isn't, there is a gaping hole in our profession.

Tom WattI worked with Charlie at BBC London for a while and although -- given that I was as passionate about football as he was about music -- he always threw me that 'You're from another planet, aren't you?' look, I'll remember a lovely man. A lovely man who could pick a tune, by the way.